Italy Part 2: Birthplace of the Renaissance (that means lots of art!)

Florence, Italy. March 23-24
       Florence! The Birthplace of the Renaissance! So, a lot of art, and history. An awesome place if you like either of those 2 things. But if not, you should still go because it is so beautiful!

Saturday March 23
        We took a train from Venice to Florence on Saturday March 23, in the afternoon so we could still explore Venice. When we got to Florence, we found our hostel (Academy Hostel, really nice hostel), which was very close to the Duomo, like literally down the street 20 seconds. We learned that Florence was kind of small, and you could walk everywhere, which was really nice. And a lot of things seemed to be around the Duomo which was great.
        The Duomo is the Basilica of Florence and its full name is Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or Basilica of Saint Mary of the Flower in Italian. It is both a cathedral and a basilica. In Catholic terms, Cathedrals are churches for the bishop of the area, while basilicas have been blessed by the Pope. Duomo is Italian for cathedral but sometimes a church might be named this because it is the church that the city uses. So...even though the Duomo in Florence is known for its big dome, the name is not because of the dome, but rather because it is a cathedral. The Basilica was built starting in the late 13th century, and in 1436 construction of the dome was started, which was designed by Filipo Brunelleschi, a notable architect of the Italian Renaissance. Brunelleschi modeled the dome after the dome of the Pantheon in Rome (which I saw in Rome...I'll get there eventually), and it is 114.5 meters high. 
 

Front of Duomo

Dome of Duomo

 Giotto's Campanile

              Another well-known aspect of the Duomo is the Florence Baptistry, or Battistero di San Giovanni, which sits in front of the cathedral/basilica. It is considered to be in Florentine Romanesque style, which greatly influenced the Renaissance period, and shows different elements than the Romanesque period. The Baptistry was finished in 1128, and in the 14th century, the city held a competition to design and decorate the Baptistry doors, which were to be done in bronze reliefs. Lorenzo Ghiberti won the competition, and his reliefs can be seen on the doors today. The north side gates by Ghiberti are known as the Gates of Paradise, and greatly inspired Michelangelo, as he grew up in Florence. 
 

Baptistry doors - Gates of Heaven

Close-up of bronze relief on Baptistry doors, Gates of Heaven

     After looking at the Duomo, we found a great (and cheap!) pizza place to eat at, which the waitress told us had open not very long ago. Apparently the chef was from Naples, which is supposed to have the best pizza in Italy (or where it originated in Italy?), so we were getting authentic pizza! Well if not, it was really good. After that, we got some gelato and ate it next to the Duomo. 

Sunday March 24
       The next day was Palm Sunday, so we went to mass early at the Duomo. It was in Italian, but I could understand a little bit of it, since Italian is similar to Spanish. Instead of getting palms on Palm Sunday, we got olive branches, I guess because olive trees are more readily availbable than palm trees....and the Mediterranean region loves their olives, and olive oil. I was able to get this picture of the Duomo from the inside (we didn't know we weren't supposed to take pictures until someone told us!):

Inside of Duomo, Dome painted by Giorgio Vasara and Federico Zuccaro in the late 1500s, of the Last Judgement. 

        After Palm Sunday mass, we climbed 414 steps to the top of Giotto's Campanile, the Duomo's bell tower. There were 2 or 3 levels that you could look out onto the city of Florence, before you got to the actual top. We got a pretty good view, it was awesome!

Baptistry of Florence

Dome of Duomo

View of Florence, with hills of Tuscany in the background

        After we reached the bottom of the Campanile, I toured the Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze (usually just called the Accademia) while Claire and Luke did a walking tour of Florence. The Accademia is known for Michelangelo's David, which was finished in 1504. David is a good example of Renaissance sculpture, as it shows movement, perfected human anatomy, and has a lot of expression, especially in the face of David. The sculpture is of David from the biblical story, David and Goliath, where David fights the giant Goliath, and wins, who eventually becomes king of Israel. In Michelangelo's David, David is holding a rock in his right hand, has a sling over his left shoulder, and wears a very determined expression, before he defeats Goliath. During the Renaissance, artists were inspired by Greek sculptures of heroes, gods, and athletes, which can be seen in David. Up close, you can see the veins and muscles in the figure, as well as the expression he has on his face, which I found the most interesting. 

Proof that I saw Michelangelo's David!

 

Close-up on David's face, from www.examiner.com...since you weren't supposed to take pictures.

          After visiting the Accademia, I met up with Claire and Luke for lunch, where we ate at a little cafe (or whatever they call them in Italy - places that sell pizza and panini's), and had a panini. After lunch, I walked around Florence by myself until I toured the Uffizi gallery, while Claire and Luke went on a wine-tasting tour. 

Ponte Vecchio. Medieval stone bridge over Arno River, which now houses shops of jewelers and art sellers. 

So much gold jewelry! On Ponte Vecchio

Basilica di Santa Croce, Basilica of the Holy Cross

Palazzo Vecchio, town hall of Florence

Copy of Michelangelo's David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

         And finally it was time to tour the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is a well-known art gallery, and has many works from Italian Renaissance artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio. It was amazing to see works of art that I have seen in textbooks and in powerpoint presentations in class. Seeing the real thing was just extraordinary!

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. This is in the Uffizi Gallery, and is a well-known Renaissance painting, where the goddess Venus is born from the sea. Image from www.wikipedia.org

Inside of Uffizi Gallery. Apparently we could take pictures out in the corridor (which was lined with statues) but not inside the galleries. 

               After my tour of the Uffizi and Claire and Luke's wine tour, we met up for dinner. We ate at a restaurant close to our hostel, and I had spaghetti, which was pretty good. After dinner, we ate some more gelato....it's quite addicting! The next day we woke up early for our train ride to Sorrento. 

One last look at the Duomo, the night before heading off to Sorrento!

Things I learned in Italy

• Gelato is really good...and addicting!
• Florence is full of art and history, and is the birthplace of the Renaissance
• It is an Italian tradition to use olive branches instead of palm branches for Palm Sunday
• The Duomo is beautiful, and was an easy landmark to find if lost
• Michelangelo's David is totally worth seeing in person
• Buy tickets ahead of time for the Uffizi and Accademia, or else you have to stand in a long line and might not get in
• We met some Americans studying in Florence...how cool would that be? 
• I want more gelato!!!

Ciao!